Sorry about Friday and Monday...

I am going to take the rest of the week off!

Until Monday, March 31st keep thinking veggies and protein!

You’re House is Making You Fat…

You Painted the Dining Room Red - According to the Pantone Color Institute, the color red increases blood pressure, heart rate, and appetite. Yellow increases energy, happiness, and—you guessed it—appetite. If any of the rooms in your house are painted in the warm colors of red, orange, or yellow—especially the kitchen or dining room—you are subliminally urging yourself to eat more.

On the other hand, the color blue has been shown to be an appetite suppressant. Because blue rarely occurs as food in nature (more often indicating rot or mold that can make you ill), humans have no appetite response to it. Paint the kitchen aqua, buy a blue light for your fridge, or serve dinner on blue dishware to help fend off cravings.

Fitwall…

I want one!  Shape up, step up, and tone up with the latest, and hottest, fitness trend: Fitwall.

Fitwall is where high tech and fitness meet. And it's the newest way folks are working on both their cardio and resistance training.

Fitwall, located in San Diego, California, could be the way of the future for fitness and technology. The Fitwall is a heavy duty, metal wall unit that has steps for your feet and for your hands. Think of it like a ladder. On the sides are resistance bands and TRX-like handles for the strength and conditioning portion of the workout. Each class is curated with energetic music; you start on time (cued to the music) and end right at the 40-minute mark (synced with the music).

"Healthy" Potato Chips...

A: We already know digging into a bag of chips isn't the smartest choice for your 3 p.m. snack. They have essentially no nutritional value, even if they are made from basic ingredients like potatoes, oil, and salt. They're simply a refined carbohydrate product that's devoid of fiber, protein, and any appreciable amount of vitamins and minerals. Plus they're easy to overeat and can be high in fat.

Recently the market has been flooded with chips that sound much healthier, made from wholesome ingredients including quinoa, beans, seeds, sprouted grains, and even veggies like red pepper and broccoli. But despite having ingredients that are considered "healthy," the processing required to make a "chip" can completely strip the health out of a food that would have been nutritious in its original state. 

For example. quinoa is nutritious and loaded with fiber and protein, but quinoa chips have a different nutritional profile.  One brand has essentially no fiber (less then 1 gram per 20 chips), but each serving contains an impressive 9 grams of protein and only 12 grams of carbohydrates. So despite having the fiber processed out of the quinoa, these chips have a good (great, with respects to chips) nutritional profile.  Plus quinoa is also the first ingredient listed on the label, so you know that the chip is mainly made of what they're advertising.

Contrast this to a sweet potato chip I saw at the grocery store last week. Its nutrient profile was almost exactly the same as a regular chip. Corn—not sweet potato—was the first ingredient listed. While the idea of sweet potato chips sounds healthy, these chips were no more than tortilla chips with enough sweet potatoes in them to give them the reddish-orange glow we associate with health-boosting beta-carotene.

Finding a truly healthy chip alternative like the quinoa chip described above that actually contains enough of the key healthy ingredient to impact the nutritional profile is rare, while healthy-sounding chips that are really just a dressed up tortilla or potato chip are the norm. These health food chips are basically the nutritional version of the Big Bad Wolf trying to trick Little Red Riding Hood.

However, I recommend you eat whichever you prefer, in moderation. If you like the taste of black bean- or sweet potato-flavored tortilla chips over regular tortilla chips, then go for what you like—but know that the health difference is minimal. If you are looking to fit more nutritionally sound chips into your diet so you can munch on them with greater frequency, check the nutrition label closely and make sure the ingredients match the food advertised on the front. Also look for higher levels of protein and fiber, which are good indicators that you are getting what you pay for.

You’re Dehydrated…

You know that you’ve had your share of water/beer/coffee by the frequency in which you need to use the bathroom, but what else can pee tell you about your health and habits?

You’ve may have heard that urine color—specifically dark yellow—can indicate dehydration, and this is indeed the case. When you’re properly hydrated, pee should be clear or just vaguely straw colored (the color in urine is caused by a pigment called urichrome, which gets lighter and darker depending on how concentrated urine becomes), and you should be going regularly, about once an hour depending on a variety of factors. A strong urinary odor, also due to concentration, is a sign of dehydration as well. And yes, you do need the recommended eight cups of fluid per day, but you don’t have to guzzle water to get it. Fruits and veggies contain water; if you’re loading up on those, it contributes to your daily eight-cup goal. But hydration is also about self-regulation. If you’re exercising, you need more fluid, (though only if you’re training for a marathon or doing some other sort of very intense and long-duration activity do you need a sports drink), so be aware of your body’s needs; fatigue and irritability can indicate dehydration as well.